Dungarvan 10 - A Race Of Two Halves

Since I first ran this race in 2009 The Dungarvan 10 has gone from strength to strength and is fast becoming one of the most popular races on the racing calendar. Certainly West Waterford AC put on a great event. Where else for €15 would you get a goody bag with a technical running top, sports drink, banana, crisps, oat cookie, and bar of chocolate, not to mind as many bottles of water as you could carry, hot showers, and as much tea/coffee sandwiches and cake as you could eat. And that's all in addition to the main event - a chip timed 10 mile road race over a flat fast course, with timekeepers at every mile marker, stewards offering words of encouragement and pacers for 70, 75, 80, 85 & 90 minutes, if you were looking to break any of those milestones (so what if they carried balloons that you're more likely to see at a kiddies party). Fantastic.

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The race is called the John Treacy Dungarvan 10, in honour of local running legend John Treacy, twice winner of the world cross-country championships (78 & 79) and silver medalist behind Carlos Lopez in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Marathon. Not only that, but John would be running the race.

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As I am still in base building mode (i.e. taking it easy for a while) I was never going to race today. Instead I decided to pace clubmate Denis Looney to a sub-70 minute PB. I know there were pacers out there but none of them were prepared to say "you're looking great Denis, c'mon you can do it" ;-) . In hindsight, with a PB of 72:5x, getting under 70 in the first race of the year was going to be a tough task for Denis. I traveled down with Michael and his Wife Nuala, Denis and Ian (All Eagles), with only Denis and I having run a 10 miler before - so we'd be returning with a least 3 PBs and possibly 4.

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The day was a bit damp (Irish for light rain) but the termerature was a relatively balmy 7C and there was no wind that you could talk about - perfect. To make it a bit more interesting I decided to wear the Vibrams - aiming for my first vibram sub-70 ( I ran Ballycotton in them last year, finishing in 72:xx). I was a bit worried as I had slightly skinned the top of 2 toes on my right foot when I ran in them on Thursday, but I was willing to take the risk, covering the digits in vaseline before donning the flip flops, as some people call them.

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The warmup consisted of running the half mile to the start line and standing around chatting before the gun went off. Despite the few drops of rain I did not feel cold in the singlet. Once the gun went Denis and I settled into a fairly comfortable pace just behind the 70 minute pacers on a short loop through the town before heading out the Cork Road for a larger loop through the countryside. My Garmin ran out of power during the first mile - some pacer I am. Luckily I had the pacers to guide me. We hit mile 1 in 7:08 which suggested we were behind pace, but I reckon the timekeeper was slightly out. Mile 2 came in 13:51 - well within 7:00 pace. It became a bit congested when we hit the narrower country roads, particularly as there was a sizable group in the wake of the pacers. Miles 3 and 4 came and went with us still maintaining a pace just under 7:00, with about a 20 second cushion on the overall target.

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Around the 4 mile mark we caught up with race -walker Jamie Costin, who maintained a steady pace behind the pacers - amazing to watch how he could keep such a relatively fast pace while keeping one foot on the ground - strange sport. Shortly after this Denis's wheels began to wobble slightly - "I'm not going to make it" he said, "I went out too fast". We slow a little and the pacers and their entourage gradually move ahead. However we keep a steady pace and the pacers are still in sight as we pass the 5 mile halfway mark a few seconds under 35 minutes. You could say still on target for a sub-70 but in truth we has lost most of the 20 second cushion we had at mile 4. On the plus side the road was a lot less congested, poor comfort for Denis really.

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On we ran with one or two runners coming on our shoulders and going ahead. We passed mile 6 with the timekeeper calling out 42:24 - just under 7:30 for the mile. With 4 miles to go I reckoned that if Denis could maintain a 7:30 pace he'd finish in 30 minutes and get his PB comfortably (72:2x). With those words of advice and my feet reacting well to the vibrams, I sought permission to chase down the 70 minute pacers, so that I could keep my sub-70 target. In truth I abandoned Denis in his hour (half hour) of need, there's no end to my selfishness when it comes to running.

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My pace increased as I hit the biggest downhill section of the race in mile 7, passing those that had passed me earlier, the increased landing force not adversely affecting my feet. The mile 7 time-keeper was calling out 48:57 as I passed - 3 seconds under 70 minute pace, with the pacers still about 100 yards ahead. The road became congested again as I hit the back of the group, but gaps opened up every now and again as those in front took evasive action around puddles and I splashed straight through, the fun part of running in vibrams. I felt strong, running about 6:30 pace but still reasonably comfortable and not under any huge pressure. Past the 8 mile mark in about 55:2x - over half a minute cushion on the sub-70. Left onto the main Cork/Waterford Road for the final push to the finish, continually passing those around me, including the race walker, who was well ahead of the 70 minute pace group. My arrival on the heels of those in front was well advertised with the slapping noise from my mid-foot strike in the vibrams.

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Mile 9 came in 61:47 (I think) - over a minute cushion and heading for a sub-69 - could I get a sub-68? keep pushing. Those in front were not coming back to me half as quick as they were a mile or two back. 1 km to go and I pass 2 guys, with one of them coming back on my shoulder, having increased his pace noticeably to keep up with me - I imagined him thinking "No fu#k*r in a pair of flip flops is going to beat me". The 800m to go sign came and went with the guy still breathing down my neck as we passed a few more. "I don't have much of a finishing kick so i'll have to burn him off soon or at least make him work harder to keep with me", so I increase the effort - he's still on my shoulder passing the 600m to go sign. "Fair play to him" was all I could think, "he's stubborn and if he's in the mix in the last 100m he'll deserve to beat me" I kept quite though as I didn't want to encourage him. I felt a bit guilty though as he was unaware of the advantage that I had over him in that I was technically only racing 4 miles to his 10.

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From 600m out I picked up the pace for my long finishing kick and the guy eventually left my shoulder. I kept pushing and while the effort was tough it felt more like running an interval at the track as opposed to the energy sapping feeling I would normally feel at the end of a 10 mile or HM race. 400m came and went, left at the roundabout, now at full tilt (all relative) passing a few more - 200m to go, I could see clubmate Neil ahead and increased the effort to see if I could catch him, but he had his own finishing kick and managed to stay ahead of me as I crossed the line behind him in 1:07:52 - covering the last 4 miles in 25:28 (6:22 pace) and the last mile in 6:05 - very pleased with my day out as it showed that I can run hard in the vibrams without too much trouble - well apart from the pain of skinning the top of one of my right toes, which I didn't feel during the race - but no bio mechanical issues as far as I am aware.

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Denis did indeed get his 72:2x PB , which he was well pleased with. Great to be able to stick with it when the primary target is gone and your pacer ditches you mid-race. I only did it to toughen him up ;) So I was the only one on the drive home without a PB, with Michael covering the distance in 1:08:55 , Ian in 1:18:24 (still in his first 6 months of running) and Nuala in 1:19:19 - so congratulations all round and as usual a great day out.

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